I’ll take Extra Large Philistines for 200, Alex!

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

david and goliathThe answer is; Who is Goliath?

Goliath stood against Israel’s army for forty days. Twice each day Goliath would brazenly challenge, taunt, curse, and scorn the Israelites. Defiantly shouting ‘Why don’t you come out and fight me?’

So, A better question might be what is your Goliath? What temptation or sin continues to laugh at you scornfully? What memories haunt you defiantly? What is it that continues day after day to beleaguer you, relentlessly showering you with fear? This, then would be your Goliath. Be it addiction, lust, crippling fears, anger, whatever it may be, this is your Goliath.

How did David conquer Goliath? We all know about the sling and the rock. But before that David tells Saul:

Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine.

He is saying ‘I’ve faced bigger problems than this before and God saw me through it, and God will see me through this as well.’ His confidence is in God. God will save him from this Philistine who wants to kill him and enslave the Israelites.

So the next time your Goliath calls out your name, laughing at you saying ‘if I overcome you, you will be my slave and serve me’ reminding you of your past failures and weaknesses…. Let him know that God has brought you through worse than this and He will see you past this Extra Large Philistine as well.

Then hit him in the noggin with a rock!!!

 

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Just asking…

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

question marks

Just asking…

  • As a believing Christian, do you really believe that what you believe is really real?
  • If being Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
  • If the Holy Spirit removed itself from your life completely, would you be able to tell?

Not saying…  just asking.

 

Many thanks to Pastor Will Warren for his inspiration.
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I am Jonah

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

jonah and the whaleWhile watching the Veggie Tales movie about Jonah it occurred to me, am I like Jonah? Do I run away and try to hide from God when He asks something of me? The answer is yes. Yes, I am Jonah.

We all know the story about Jonah and the whale; Jonah disobeyed God so He sent a whale to swallow Jonah. Jonah repented and the whale spit him out. Some of us may know more details, but I think all of us can say we know at least that much of the story. So break out the Mr Twisty’s Twisted Cheese Curls while we take a closer look at Jonah. Continue reading →

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Eat this!

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

eat this bookNotes from Eugene H. Peterson’s book: Eat this book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. Peterson is the author/translator of The Message Bible.

In his book Peterson likens Spiritual Reading to a dog with a bone; biting, gnawing, chewing on the bone to get every little bit he can out of that bone. Licking out the marrow, turning the bone over, end for end, burying the bone, then starting again the next day. Anyone who has ever watched a dog enjoy this pastime can easily picture how thoroughly the dog gets all there is to get out of that bone. The second part of his dog-with-the-bone illustration is that the dog ingests (eats) whatever he can after ‘worrying’ on that bone.

I thought that was a great analogy of how we should be reading our Bibles; getting to the marrow, looking at it and working on it from different perspectives (a new Bible translation perhaps), internalizing all we can from our reading. Peterson points out that in the Bible the word hagah (Strong’s number 1897) is usually translated as “mediate”, as in ‘on his law he meditates day and night’. But ‘meditate’ is much too tame a word for what is being signified in Isaiah 31: 4 “Like a lion, king of the beasts, that gnaws and chews and worries its prey” (Message Bible) where hagah is translated as a lion growling over his prey the same way the dog growls over and worries a bone.

That is what we should be during our Spiritual Reading. God reveals himself to us through the Word, we should be reading so that it enters our souls as food enters our stomachs, spreads through our blood, and becomes holiness, love, and wisdom in the process. Poring over God’s word in such a way that it is assimilated into our very being. Eating, gnawing and chewing on God’s word in unhurried enjoyment.

Like a dog with a bone.

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Just the Blog, Ma’am.

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

sgt. joe fridayWow, it is all too easy to get wrapped up in all the chrome and tinsel of making the website.  I’ve fallen away from the purpose of this whole thing.. the Blog itself. I got stuck on oooh, Shiny! What about this theme, what about that plug-in, what about… what about..

But isn’t that just like us? Worried about ‘whitewashing the tomb’,  too worried about making the outside beautiful while the inside rots.

Well, I’m putting the brush down and getting back to Just the Blog, Ma’am.

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A Long Obedience

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

 

long obedienceFriedrich Nietzsche wrote, “The essential thing in heaven and earth is. . . that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.”

Well, I’m quite sure the man who wrote “God is Dead” didn’t have this Christian Pilgrim’s Journey in mind. Continue reading →

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It was worth a wound

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

Christ on crossIt was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to show the depth of loyalty and love that was required to satisfy the retributive demands of divine justice by shedding his blood in sacrifice and so making possible justification for all who trust him. ( Romans 3:25-26)

And I am so glad he did.

I was born into sin, but He never gave up on me while I searched for who I am. I am the baby learning to speak at my Father’s knee, and he happily teaches me His language. I am the child begging for Daddy to rescue me, and He never fails me. I am the man on the Way to who I am.

“I Am Who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you. Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 14-15)

And I am eternally grateful for the wounds. For he loved me so much, even as I stood among the scoffers.

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Of Spiritual Milk and Living Stones

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

Hebrews 5spiritual milk: 12b-14

You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

1 Peter 2: 2, 5

as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Luke 17: 1-2

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.  It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

So I will endeavour to work some in both Categories; Spiritual Milk and Living Stones as I try to raise up Godly Grandkids and continue my own personal journey.

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Square One

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

square one“I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. Message Bible Matthew 18: 3-4

Ok then, let us get elemental, my Dear Watson.

While driving to church for my five year old granddaughter’s Daisys meeting she told me it was in the same room that we worship on Sunday. What does ‘worship’ mean, Baby? I asked. ‘I don’t know’ she replied. So, how do you explain worship to a five year old?

At first I wanted to give a definition, i.e. worship is an act of devotion, of adoration, or veneration. All these thoughts came to mind, then I got the mental screeeeech noise of putting on the brakes. This is a five year old we’re talking about here. I was stumped, guess I still am.

If this is a Christian Pilgrim’s Journey and I want to touch people’s life through my writings then, Dear Reader, we’ll need to start at Square one.

I will do the research on the question of what is worship and we will revisit this. My Kidz Rock kids sing ‘Here we are to worship’ but what does that mean to them? I don’t want parrots, I really want them to understand the concept of complete and total adoration (big people word) at a level they can grasp.

I know I’ll learn a lot from them as well.

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Is it true because I believe it or do I believe it because it is true; or the lessons of 1984

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Jim Greensmith

nineteen eighty fourHaving just finished re-reading 1984; George Orwell’s novel about a futuristic society that has degraded into a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, I was moved to write about it from a few different angles. Continue reading →

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